FAMILIES who suffered a miserable Easter weekend after water from a burst main flooded their homes have been urged to pursue any compensation claims with water bosses.
The move comes as bosses from Southern Water said they could not guarantee a similar incident would not happen in the future.
About 40 households in the Grange Park area of Hedge End spent the bank holiday weekend mopping up after the burst main left water several feet flooding through the road.
Many gardens were waterlogged while some families saw their carpets, furniture and electrical items destroyed by the flood, caused when a mains pipe, which carries water directly from Moorhill reservoir, burst near to the junction of Maunsell Way and Stroudley Way at about 1pm on Saturday.
Maunsell Way was closed for several hours between Martley Gardens and Cheltenham Gardens - the worst hit area - while staff from Southern Water cleared the water and debris.
About 1,000 homes in Hedge End, Whiteley and Park Gate were without water for a short time.
The repair work to the pipe was completed on Sunday evening and the part of the pipe which burst has been taken away for analysis.
Several families are now counting the cost of the damage. For some it was restricted to their gardens and garages while for others the level of devastation was far greater.
Today a spokesman for Southern Water advised anyone wishing to pursue compensation to contact the company directly.
"If any customers are seeking compensation they will need to contact Southern Water directly who will deal with them in the usual way," she said.
She added that although a burst main of this magnitude was unlikely to happen again, there could be no guarantees.
"Generally when water mains burst it is usually due to ground movement. That is a natural phenomenon that water companies can do very little about.
"There are no guarantees that it will not happen again, but it is unlikely.
"Unfortunately, this was quite a serious burst which caused a lot of disruption, for which we apologise to our customers."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article